20 TECH ADVISOR • FEBRUARY 2020MICROSOFT IGNITE EVENT
a three-dimensional recording system to store the
movie Superman within a pane of glass. Using ‘voxels’,
a three-dimensional version of the pixels that display
images on a PC monitor, Microsoft was able to store
the digital version of the movie inside a Project Silica
glass. More than 100 layers of voxels can be stored on
a sheet of glass 2mm thick.
In 2016, Microsoft began showing off how it could
use DNA strands to store data, as a biological analogue
to traditional disk- or flash-based storage. Glass
storage is arguably more practical, as Microsoft tested
it by boiling the glass, rubbing it with steel wool, and
even microwaving it without any degradation of the
data. Infrared layers distort the glass, somewhat like
traditional DVD recording media, but do so inside the
glass and away from the open air. The data is read back
using lasers, Microsoft said in a blog post about Project
Silica, and machine learning is used to decode the light
as it reflects off of the glass.
As Microsoft’s Superman demo indicates, the motion
picture industry might be one customer interested
in a storage technology like this. Analogue film is
notoriously fragile, subject to rot and other decay. Many
early films have been entirely lost because the original
negatives deteriorated to the point of no return. Film
studios store multiple copies in multiple locations, even
separating the colour data and then reconstructing it if
necessary, but that’s a costly and laborious process.
While Microsoft’s demonstration obviously puts this
solution past the theoretical stage, it’s not quite ready
for production. Variety, which received an inside look
at the technology, reports that Microsoft doesn’t yet20 TECH ADVISOR • FEBRUARY 2020MICROSOFT IGNITE EVENT
a three-dimensional recording system to store the
movie Superman within a pane of glass. Using ‘voxels’,
a three-dimensional version of the pixels that display
imagesona PCmonitor,Microsoftwasabletostore
thedigital version of the movie inside a Project Silica
glass. More than 100 layers of voxels can be stored on
a sheet of glass 2mm thick.
In 2016, Microsoft began showing off how it could
use DNA strands to store data, as a biological analogue
to traditional disk- or flash-based storage. Glass
storage is arguably more practical, as Microsoft tested
it by boiling the glass, rubbing it with steel wool, and
even microwaving it without any degradation of the
data. Infrared layers distort the glass, somewhat like
traditional DVD recording media, but do so inside the
glass and away from the open air. The data is read back
using lasers, Microsoft said in a blog post about Project
Silica, and machine learning is used to decode the light
as it reflects off of the glass.
As Microsoft’s Superman demo indicates, the motion
picture industry might be one customer interested
in a storage technology like this. Analogue film is
notoriously fragile, subject to rot and other decay. Many
early films have been entirely lost because the original
negatives deteriorated to the point of no return. Film
studios store multiple copies in multiple locations, even
separating the colour data and then reconstructing it if
necessary, but that’s a costly and laborious process.
While Microsoft’s demonstration obviously puts this
solution past the theoretical stage, it’s not quite ready
for production. Variety, which received an inside look
at the technology, reports that Microsoft doesn’t yet